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Apr 18, 2012

Joshua Bell sat conspicuously at the end of my row near the front of carnegie Hall.
My wife had heard that there would be surprise guests at this auspicious Carnegie Hall debut. I was pleasantly surprised when the first guest appeared, and shocked when the second arrived... more later.

Igudesman and Joo: the next big musical comedy duo

I think one of my favorite moments was when Igudesman followed "it's always been my dream to play in Carnegie Hall" with: "etcetera etcetera"

On-stage tension is always good comic fodder, and Joo's musical coaching from behind the keyboard shot so superbly out of what rapidly became.. a patronization bazooka at at his bemused eye-acting, violinist colleague ... with a perfect recapitulation of the same during an encore in which the weapon was now aimed at the gracious guest #1: Joshua Bell.. ahh it was beautiful on so many levels. Thanks for that guys. And what a good sport was Josh...

Here's a similar encounter from an earlier concert that Igudesman inflicted upon Gidon Kremer:

Joo's Karate Piano playing was golden material, and I would have loved to have had more development of the idea. There's so much more material to look forward to from him with the Asian characters that, no doubt, will come into play over the next decade. Chopsticks, dog in restaurant scenarios, immigration, gongs... (can you tell I've done this before?? the Como quartet had not one but two Asians in it for a few years...)

The shocker:
As Billy Joel marched furiously on stage to stop the debacle that had begun as one of his own massacred tunes, the Carnegie Hall audience went into uproar, and as he joined them in a trio on his own special Steinway wheeled out ceremoniously, the two-some enjoyed a tiny break from the spotlight as we all marveled at the unexpected legend sitting before us with his funny young friends.

Apr 12, 2012

Take it under water and the risk of death, paralysis, injury or just being tired and cold define the outer limits of the job. Stay too long, go too deep, become entangled, disoriented inside a shipwreck... and you're fish food.
Diving doesn't have to be dangerous, it's just when you have a job to do, a job that takes your attention away from the things that your life depends upon: depth, air reserves, people's kicking feet and those stray fishing nets that are very hard to see, even when you are looking for them...

I'll be shooting in Jamaica next Month, a classical music video with choreographed dance sequences, and a 30 second underwater sequence. A big job, and one I should really be taking an assistant with me.
It's exciting and potentially dangerous. Good fodder for avoiding a mid-life-crisis !

Apr 2, 2012

Back from the most outrageous 50th Birthday Party in Curacao, where a dozen friends surprised the birthday boy (a scheme cooked up by his wife), I'm looking through the underwater footage with glee.
A good bunch of divers, each equipped with their sense of fun, made for some most amusing skullduggery underwater causing many flooded masks from laughing.
Here's the Movie: http://vimeo.com/40690459

50th Birthday Party Celebrations ensued on land and under water

Back in New York, relaxed and vitamin D enriched, I was in good form this morning to field a series of voicemails from a famous pianist in Jamaica, West Indies, who wants a large scale music video next Month. Exciting stuff. He wants a small underwater sequence too which of course is right up my alley.

It's going to be a year to remember, I hope I can keep all the balls in the air.